Trenching-machine.



H. 1.. BENTSON. 'mmcnmc MACHINE.

APPLICATION FlLED MI. 10, "H3.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. l. BENTSON. TRENCHING MACHINE. Anucmou mm mu. m, ma.

9 2mm Nov. 13, 1917'.

{SHEETS-MEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

m J. mason, OF LA JOIIIJA, CALIFORNIA, LSSIGNOB '10 FREDERICK 0. sum,

0! CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Ipeoiflcatlon of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

Application ma January 10, ms. Serial; m. #41,:01.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I Hans J. BENTSON, a citizen of the United tates of America, and resident of La J olla, San Diego county, California, have invented a certam new and useful Improvement in Trenching-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to trenching machines of that particular kind in which the body of the machine is provided at the rear end thereof with a swinging su port, and in' which the excavating is done y an endless series of buckets which are caused to travel up and down the said support, by means 0 sprocket chains or other endless members, whereby the buckets are filled while moving upward against the end wall of the .trench, and in which each bucket discharges its load when turned upside down at the upper end of its upward path of travel, eachbucket, for this purpose, be-

ing provided with an open inner s1de w ereby the dirt enters the open mouth of the bucket and passes entirely through the latter, in the general operation of fillin and discharging its load, the upper end 0 said support be1n provided w1th an adjusting dev1ce for ti ting the said su port about a horizontal axis, 1n a vertical p ane, to thereby vary the working depth of said buckets, depending upon the depth desired for the trench.

Generally stated, the object of my invention is to provide a novel and highly efiicient trenching machine of the foregoing general character.

S ecial objects are to provide novel and efiicient mechanism for operatin the said buckets; to provide a novel an effective clean-out or ejector for causing each bucket to discharge its load at the proper time; to

rovide a novel and eflicient device for varymg the angle of the beam or support upon which the endless series of buckets travels up and down during the operation of forming the trench; to provide a novel and efiective device for preserving the grade line of the trench, and for malntainin the machine in position to properly do t e work; to provide a novel and improved construction whereby the load p entirely through each bucket';to provide a novel and efliclent construction and arrangement whereby a simple and compact aring is employed for reversibly operatingt e ad1usting dev1ce for the buc et support, for operat thebelt or other. means for receiving the ha r e from the buckets, for operatmg the em buckets, and for also operating the tractor by which the machine is slowly moved forward dur' the excavating operatlon; and to provi e certain details and features of construction and novel combinations tending to increase the general efliciency and serviceability of an excavating machine of this particular character.

To the foregomg and other useful ends my invention consists in matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a detail sectional view, of the upper ortion of the endless series of buckets an the sprocket chains upon which the buckets are mounted, illustrating the operation of the said ejector or clean-out, and the manner in which the buckets discharge while turning upside down at the time when they pass around the upper sprocket wheels of the said sprocket chains.

' Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the mechanism of the said ejector or clean-out for the buckets.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail section on line 13-13 in Fig. 2.

Fig.- 4: is a rear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail section on line 1515 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the plate which constitutes the e ector and clean-out, and which is of a shape and character to scrape the entire surface of each bucket whereby the said ejector or clean-out, by relative movement, passes entirely through each bucket.

As thus illustrated, it will be seen that my invention comprises a body A having a frame or superstructure a at the rear thereof, theftop of said frame being provided with a transverse shaft a The swinging beam or bucket support B is suitably mounted upon the sai shaft, being comthe said sprocket chains to travel up posed of an upper section b, and a. lower.

section b, which hangs in the ditch. The hanger b of the beam has a pivot b for the cleaner C, as will more fully appear. A shaft is provided at the lower end of said support B, and this shaft is provided with a pai of sprocket wheels for the parallel end? sprocket chains b, in a manner that will be understood, the lower end of the beam and the lower buckets being omitted for convenience of illustration. Similar sprocket wheels 6' are provided for said chains and mounted upon the shaft a, whereby a rotation of the shaft (1 will causg an down the said support. The buckets b are secured at intervals to the said sprocket chains, each bucket being rigid with two parallel links of said chains, and each bucket being open at either side and being ta ered toward its rear end, the said chains ing spaced apart. Each bucket has its cutting edge or lip provided with teeth 15'', and its sides provided with similar teeth b, whereby the trench cut by the buckets is wider than the combined width of said s rocket chains. As the buckets travel upwar and move around the upper sprocket w eels, their rear ends are tilted away from the sprocket chains, so as to bring their open inner sides downward, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby discharging the load; but while each bucket is traveling upward in a straight line, the position thereof is such that it will carry the load. The buckets pass between the sides of the upper section b of the supporting beam. The axis 25 of the cleaner is above the axis a of the beam, so that the cleaner has a shorter radius than the buckets. I

The ejector or clean-out consists of a plate C, shown in Fig. 6, secured to the arm 0 said arm being ivoted in the fork c of the hanger b, whic is mounted partly on the shaft a, by means of a bearing a, and partly on the beam or support B a. connection c of any suitable character. e lower end of the arm a has a rod 0 pivotally connected therewith, said rod extending downward and through a guide 0' secured to the beam or bucket support B in any suitable or desired manner. The lower end of said rod has a collar 0'. and a. coil spring 0' is interposed between the said collar and the guide 0', whereby said spring is compressed when the plate C is opposed to the load in the bucket. In this way, and if the bucket or anything contained therein strikes the said ejector or clean-out, the latter will, by reason of the sprin c, yield sufiiciently to prevent breakage. he sharp edge (9 of the plate C is adapted to scrape the inner surface of the bucket, and during the operation, it will be seen this ejector or clean-out passes entirely through the bucketthat is to say, the relative movement is such that it enters the mouth of the bucket and passes out of the open side or rear end thereof. In this way the buckets are successively scraped and cleaned by a device which retains its position at the top of the traveling sprocket chains upon which the buckets are mounted.

The buckets are caused to discharge u on the transverse belt or conveyer D, which atter is disposed at the rear of the machine and directly below the dumping position of the buckets. The buckets, while traveling upward above ground, are inclosed by a shield or guard d, whereby in falling the dirt will be directed back into the trench; and the discharge from each bucket is received by a hood d disposed immediately above the said belt or conveyer. The s ring 0' yields when the cleaner is ressed orward by the load, as while working in sticky clay, and when the load is detached from the bucket the spring quickly moves the. cleaner back and thus throws the dirt downward into the hopper.

What I claim as my invention is 1. A trenching machine comprising a swinging digging beam, an endless series of rear-end-discharge digging and conveyin buckets on said beam, a cleaner supported on the upper end portion of the beam to pass through the buckets, a rod connected to said cleaner, means on the beam to support said rod for endwise movement, and a spring on said rod to yieldingly present the cleaner to the buckets.

2. A trenching machine comprising a swingin digging beam, an endlem series of rear-en discharge digging and conveying buckets on said beam, a cleaner pivotally supported to pass through each bucket where the buckets successively tilt into dumping position, a rod connected to said cleaner, means on the beam to support said rod for endwise movement, and a spring on said rod to yieldingly present the cleaner to the buckets. 3. The structure of claim 2, as specified, in which the pivot of said cleaner is disposed a distance from the axis of said beam, so that the cleaner has a shorter radius than the buckets.

4. The structure of claim 2, as s ed, in which said cleaner is movable a 1100 with each bucket, and said rod being movable upward to compress the spring when the cleaner moves with a bucket.

5. A travelin excavator comprising an endless series 0 rear-end-discharge digging and conveying buckets disposed in position to form a trench behind the excavator, a cleaner plvotally supported to pm through each bucket where the buckets tilt into dumping position, so that said cleaner is turn of the cleaner will throw the detached movable a distance under pressure of the load from the bucket. 10 load in any bucket, and means to yieldin 1y Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this resist said movement of the cleaner and i 01 6th day of January, 1913.

5 insuring the return thereof to normal posi- HANS J. BENTSON.

tion. Witnesses 6. The structure of claim 5, as stated, said H. KNUnsoN,

means being a spring, so that the quick re- E. H. CLEGG. 

